Shuura and Whiskey
by ashangel101010
Summary: And Ben knows Hux's half crazy, but that's why he wants to be there.


Shuura and Whiskey

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Suggested Theme:

Main Theme- Suzanne by Leonard Cohen

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Padawan Ben Solo views this summer vacation as the only thing keeping him from murdering his Master. Since becoming a padawan, his Master, dear Uncle Luke, has put more emphasis on the rules, which means Ben can't go a day without breaking one of those _rules_. Perhaps if his Master didn't become so anal, he wouldn't have felt inclined to pitch a fellow padawan into a river. The padawan ratted him out after he made it back to the Temple like the Master's pet that he is.

Thankfully, his mother rescued him from another wasted summer by delivering him to their summer home on Naboo: Varykino. It was only used twice before since Chandrila is typically closer to the host planets of the Galactic Senate. Both worlds are beautiful, but he has always felt more drawn to Naboo.

The summer in Naboo is nowhere near as mild as Chandrila's or controlled as Coruscant's; it's allowed to be naturally sticky and encourages everyone to be inside with the air conditioning unit on high. He has chosen the lake.

The lake chills him for a minute, but he adapts as he dives into the deep. No thoughts in his mind. Just feeling the coolness slipping across his heated body. Like a baby sando aqua monster, he comes up for air when necessary and then returns to his darkness.

The cycle breaks when a hook gets snagged in his hair.

"I'M SO SORRY! ARE YOU OKAY!?" A pasty man with a stupidly wide straw hat shouts like a Gungan yokel. Ben immediately responds with knocking the hat off with the Force, while working on getting the hook out of his hair.

"Oh, a wind!" The man exclaims just as his hat skips across the lake like a stone. Ben finally gets his first look at the man's face.

_His hair, it's red! A fiery red that flickers at his shoulders, even if he's wearing a stupidly oversized shirt. His eyes are blue-green almost like the water, but they change back and forth like he can't decide on their color. He's tall and upright like a proper soldier, even his swim pants and shoes look military-issued like it belonged to a clone trooper. _

The man puts down his fishing pole and takes off his shirt. Rose-pink burns consume the man's left arm, but the rest of his skin has been left a pearly white. He dives into the water and comes up, showing off nipples hard enough to cut ur-diamonds and nearly as pink as them. He use his long, sinewy arms and legs to move through the water like a professional swimmer. Unfortunately, his hat keeps moving further out of his grasp.

Ben tells himself that the Force is being used for the greater good.

The man swims on his back and flashes a crooked smile at him that makes Ben's swim briefs become tighter.

"Aren't you going to ask for my name?" Ben says without thinking and only just realizes how arrogant it sounded. The man stops swimming and floats on his back for a moment before answering.

"Okay. What's your name?" The man throws him a curveball with such a simple question. Ben bites down on his lip, trying to figure out if he should lie or tell the truth. Ultimately, he chooses a partial omission of the truth.

"Ben." He's so glad that his parents chose a monosyllabic name for him because he doesn't want this ginger man to hear his voice crack.

"Your name's three letters. So is mine. I'm Hux." Hux holds out his lily-white, right hand. Ben swims up to him and shakes his hand, but shakes a little too strongly and splashes himself. He hears Hux laugh at him, but it isn't mean-spirited like the other padawans' when he makes a stupid mistake. This laugh is childish like he's having fun.

"Let's go back on dryland for whiskey!"

"What?"

"We could drink out here, but it's kind of pain to keep yourself afloat while drinking…"

"I'm fourteen, but I'll be fifteen in three months." Hux tilts his head like a bored cat at his answer.

"Huh, I thought you were like sixteen…more for me then." Hux then flails like he's about to be pulled under, but he's grinning like a fool. "I'll give you a tour of my place!"

"Okay." Ben agrees without thought, but this time he feels like this will work out. The Force assures him.

* * *

Considering this is Lake Country, he imagines Hux's home to be grand like Varykino or a comfy cottage that the kookier Naboo rent. What he gets is the ruins of a once noble house. The stones are a dusky yellow, a much darker shade of Varykino's, but he can only discern from the very few intact stones. Most of the stones are charred, and emerald nature has crept over the corpses. The domes didn't suffer like their compatriots, but they suffered nonetheless. The domes are twisted heaps of durasteel like someone was wringing out the watery color.

Hux bends over to pick up something; Ben didn't know what exactly since he's focused on memorizing the ginger's marvelous backside and long legs. Hux comes up and smiles. He shows him that it's a sign, but he doesn't know what it says since it's in Futhark.

"Is that an 'In Memory of' plaque?" He guesses, and Hux shakes his head with a dazzling smile.

"It's the name of the house that once stood here: _Convergence_." Hux whispers the last part like he's telling a scary story by the fire. Ben stares blankly at him.

"Convergence belonged to House Palpatine." Hux's intended horror finally hits him.

"Did the freed people of Naboo decide to raze it after Palpatine's death?"

"Oh no, they're far too respectful of art to do that! The locals claimed that shortly after Palpatine became Chancellor a storm suddenly broke out in the dead of night. However, no trees or other houses suffered any damage, except for Convergence. Luckily, the house had stood empty for nearly a decade by that point."

"I see." _Yup, Palpatine did it and with a legendary Force Storm by sounds of it. He was the master of Force lightning, so it wouldn't have been hard for him to conjure up the storm. Especially when he was younger. _

Hux drops the plaque on the ground like a deadweight and then continues on walking through the remains of House Palpatine. Ben follows after his shadow. They walk around the pit where the veranda used to offer the Palpatine family the perfect view of the lake. They go down the stone staircase that leads to a lightly tread trail. Within minutes, they end up in a meadow. At the center of the meadow is a shuura tree ripe with yellow-red shuuras. The tree's long limbs shadow a rectangular green duraplast crate, which Ben is certain that it's actually a sleight box because his dad used them quite regularly when he was a smuggler.

"I've been here about a month, but when I arrived, the grass and weeds reached my waist. It took me a couple of days to get it this way. Didn't find any snakes, so I'm guessing snakes aren't native here. Did find some spider-rats." Hux explains.

"Why didn't you trim the tree?"

"I didn't have the clippers for it, plus the shadows are great when taking a nap." Hux goes over to the box and slides the lid back; he pulls out a bottle of Nabooian whiskey. Ben recognizes it as a fairly popular brand for the lower-class since it's just a sweet as blossom wine. Hux fishes out a shot glass and fills it up with the amber-colored liquor. He then sips at it like he's drinking hot tea. The high noon streams in the cracks of the branches and catches Hux's short hair, sparking the hair into an illusory fire.

"Even their whiskey is cultured!" Hux practically purrs in pleasure, making Ben's swim shorts become tighter again.

"You've said you've only been here a month, so you're not a native?"

"I'm Naboo on my father's side, but, no, I wasn't born here. I'm just someone passing through." Hux says as he goes to sit under the tree, nursing his drink.

"Oh….how long are you planning to stay?" _Maybe, he's a smuggler laying low from crossing the Hutts? Or he's some kind of nomad? Or maybe he was a soldier that went AWOL and decided to devote himself to a life of peace? No, the New Republic military isn't evil like the First Order. _

"About another month, then I have to go back to school." Ben barely suppresses his disappointment at such a mundane answer, but Hux catches it and downs the rest of the shot.

"Believe me, I wish there was an exciting reason to go back, but I already sunk enough of my time there. Might as well graduate." He pours himself another shot but doesn't drink.

"I understand that quite well." _But at least you have a choice. _

"Let me guess, you're stuck in the Legislative Youth Program?"

"If only, my parents want me to be a…monk. I never wanted to be that!" Ben practically spits.

"Well, since there are only like two Brotherhood of Cognizance members left, I don't think you'll have to worry about being a monk in about two years." Hux jokes, but Ben knows that the Brotherhood of Cognizance is close to being dead since the last two members are over a hundred and two.

"It's not for them. I wouldn't mind being a member of their brotherhood." _Devoting myself to art and knowledge, and maybe Shiraya, sounds more up my alley than being a Jedi. And they don't put such a weighty emphasis on chastity like Luke does! _

"Oh, how unfortunate, but then again I doubt the Brotherhood could inspire such misery in a novice."

"Well, the religion my family practices is rather…strict. I also hate most of my fellow novices." If Luke was here, Ben knows that he would've been reprimanded for using the h-word.

"And your parents won't listen to you." Hux concludes without a note of judgement.

"Yeah, and it's like they completely forgot about what I wanted to be. Like a pilot or a politician."

"Or both like former Queen Sosha Soruna." Hux helpfully adds.

"Yes! I could've been anything, and they chose for me to be a monk!" He feels his anger threatening to boil over into the Force; he inhales and exhales to center himself.

"Why do they want you to be a monk? It's not exactly a high-paying job."

"I have….issues. They believe that religion is the cure."

"They can't spare a couple hundreds of credits an hour to get you a therapist?"

"They frown upon that." _Jedi don't need Force-nulls healing their minds since Jedi have mind healers. Oh wait, there aren't any! Guess, you'll just have to rely on the Force and the Code! _

"If that's not an option, how about a good old-fashioned talk!"

Ben glares at him.

"Hear me out, I understand that they won't listen to you. However, if you just get some alone time with your parents, then just pour your heart out to them like you're doing with me. If they're not complete arses, they'll finally listen to you, and all of you can reach a compromise."

"A compromise?" Ben scoffs instantly. _Mom may have been born and raised in politics, but she hates compromising. She only compromises as a last resort, and she certainly won't with me. And dad's pretty much the same way._

"I know that's an ugly word on both sides, but you can't always get exactly what you want. A lot of times you have to consider what others want, even if it conflicts with your desire, and try to find something that will satisfy both you and the other party. Neither of you will be completely happy, but at least you'll both get something." Hux's green eyes brim with hope, sparkling like emeralds, and Ben almost pities him.

"…..I can't promise that it'll work." _"Do, not try." Luke would always say when I failed because that was Yoda's bit of wisdom to him. And it worked on him because he was the pfassking Chosen One! I'm just…not him. _

"It's better to try and fail, then to never try at all." Hux offers his own hokey wisdom, and Ben latches onto it like he wants to do with the red-head before him.

"I will." Silence resumes between them, and Ben hates the silence. He wants Hux to keep talking to him like no one has since he became a Jedi. He wants Hux to keep smiling at him like he's the only one who matters to him. He wants Hux to stay with him beyond this summer.

But he has to compromise.

He looks up at the branches and uses the Force to make a shuura fall into his hands. Hux looks up at him again.

"I've never had a shuura, so I can't tell if it's quite ready to be eaten." Hux admits, prompting Ben to smile.

"Oh, it's ready." Ben proves his point by take a bite. He savors the sweet creamy taste of the fruit, purposely making delightful noises.

"It can't be that good." Hux snickers. Ben takes it as a challenge and strides up to Hux.

"Why don't you find out?" He dares, holding out the fruit before him like a treat. Hux smirks and plucks it with his left hand. He takes a bite, chews on it for a moment, and then takes a swig from his glass.

"It tastes better with the whiskey." Hux delivers his verdict. Ben decides to sit with Hux, close enough for their arms to rub against each other. Ben likes the way the puckered pink burns twist against his smooth skin.

"I want to taste."

"Just a taste." Hux holds out the fruit first. Ben leans over and takes a bite. Then, he takes the shot glass and puts his lips right exactly where Hux's were. The whiskey's sweetness hides the punch of heat, but the shuura's creaminess tempers the heat. The flavors remind Ben of his dad's special Corellian cream, which was made of Corellian brandy and vanilla ice cream. His dad used to make those when it was just them in the _Millennium Falcon_.

"You're right."

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**Author's Comments- **Here are the links:

Here is the song that is mentioned in the Main Theme and Armitage sings: a href=" watch?v=svitEEpI07E"Link/a

This is the straw hat that Armitage wears, which proves that no matter how hot you are you can't pull off this kind of sun hat: a href=" . "Link/a

This time I tried to stick to New Canon like keeping the location of Luke's temple vague, Luke's other padawans are nameless, Ben being in the dark about his biological grandparents, and Ben just being Ben Solo. But that's all I could abide by because no way New Canon Armitage Hux would be caught dead on Naboo unless it was to set it on fire, let alone have fun and accidently give Ben a sexual awakening. And by sexual awakening, I mean he discovers the Skywalker males' fetish for gingers.

Originally, I was going to have Armitage sing "Rainbow Connection," but then I found Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" and knew that this was perfect for this story.

I have this headcanon that at some point Palpatine went back to destroy his childhood home. First, to rid himself of the place that he was the most vulnerable. Second, it was his way of celebrating in murdering Plagueis. In an upcoming AU one-shot that I hope to get out by Christmas, he found another way to celebrate the murder.


End file.
